French Country · Encyclopedia · Fire and Light
Trammel hook
The adjustable iron hook that hung the cooking pot over the hearth. The mid-seventeenth-century trammel in the book still bears its original fleur-de-lis, a rarity since many objects lost that royal emblem during the Revolution.
French: crémaillère · 17th century · wrought iron
At a glance
- Period of the example shown: mid-seventeenth century
- Material: wrought iron
- Use: hanging and adjusting a pot over the fire
- Rare detail: an original fleur-de-lis finial
What it is
A crémaillère hangs from a bar or hook inside the chimney. A toothed or notched blade lets the cook raise or lower the pot hook to control how close the food sits to the flames.
It was so central to the household that the French still speak of pendre la crémaillère, hanging the trammel, for a housewarming party.
The fleur-de-lis
The example in the book is crowned with its original fleur-de-lis. Many objects were stripped of this royal emblem during the Revolution, which makes surviving examples uncommon.
Other trammels carry hearts, roosters or spirals, as shown in the wedding trammel.
Collecting and displaying it
Look for hand-forged iron with hammer marks, original teeth and a working adjustment. Old, stable rust is normal; avoid heavy grinding that removes the surface.
Hung in a working or decorative fireplace, a trammel immediately brings back the farmhouse hearth. Make sure the fixing can bear its weight.
Source: Les Trésors de France: vieux métiers et objets d'autrefois (Éditions Rustica, Détours en France collection, 1995), pp. 116–121, with general background on the object. The book was published in 1995, so workshops, people and figures are described as they were then. Regional names and dates are given as the book records them; a style or a region of origin does not by itself date an individual piece.